Mar 8, 2017

By Jo Cortenraedt: Chief Editor Chapeau Magazine
The Theater on the Vrijthof and the philharmonic "Zuid-Nederland" are in
ecstasy already. They are anxiously awaiting for their spectacular
mega-production which will take place live on Monday July l0 on the Vrijthof in
Maastricht. For the first time in the world the famous film West Side Story will
be played outdoors by a large philharmonic orchestra while the audience
simultaneously can watch the entire film above the stage. A synchronized
combination of film and live music, and that in the middle of a large square.

This has been made possible thanks to the commitment of many, to begin with
André Rieu, who 'just' happen to make his temporary stage and all the technical
facilities available for this co-production of the philharmonic "Zuid-Nederland"
and "the Theater on the Vrijthof". "This is fantastic and we are very grateful
to André Rieu" said Jos Roeden, artistic programmer for the philharmonic. "That
means that we are able to used "state-of-the-art" equipment both in terms of
sound as well as many large digital screens around the square. This also fits
entirely in our ambition to not always perform in the usual concert halls, but
also to participate in major projects and events which brings our music closer
to the people."

Peter Noten, program director of the Theatre on the Vrijthof, can hardly
suppress his enthusiasm. "This is going to be fantastic. We can barely fit a
thousand people in our theater and now for this concert we suddenly have a
availability of 10,000 people. And all that with this film musical, which has
worldwide fame.

It has taken quite some efforts to receive the rights for this production,
because they are still part of the estate of composer Leonard Bernstein. But it
all worked out. A special team from America will come over to assist us with the
implementation of our production. And we had a choice of only a limited number
of conductors who are allowed to perform these workings. That turned out to be
Wayne Marshall who is very familiar with this musical and who will also perform
in our theater later this year as a concert pianist."

Andre Rieu makes stage and equipment available

In 2014 Noten saw "West side Story" live, with an Orchestra in London which
played in combination with the film. "That was in the Royal Albert Hall. It's
very exciting because every note must be played exactly at the right time. The
entire performance lasts almost three hours and you sit on the edge of your
seat. "We consider this a highlight to our 25th jubilee year as Theater on the
Vrijthof;" said Jean Boelen, director of the Theater on the Vrijthof. Obviously
we are very lucky that we can combine this with the concerts ofAndré Rieu who so generously made everything available to us. If we had to
build it ourselves, I am afraid our budget would not been able to afford this."
Stefan Rosu, director of the philharmonic "Zuid- Netherland", says that the
orchestra will be the largest with nearly 100 musicians and that the orchestra
is being strengthened with extra specialists, such as five saxophonists, due to
the technical challenges (e.g. the coordination of movie and music on the main
square) we are very happy with conductor Wayne Marshall who knows these workings
very well, has already done the film version and a good "jazzer". The big
challenge is to at certain times to follow the exact rhythm of the film, so that
the musicians themselves can look at the images of the film. They must therefore
fully rely on the directions of the conductor. And of course there should be a
substantial amount of rehearsing in order to get it all in sync."

The story of the musical and film West Side Story is about the romance
between Tony and Maria, each belonging to a different street gang in New York.
That creates heartbreaking moments. It's an engaging blend of story, song,
clans, music and games. The film dates back to 196I and earned no less than Ten
Oscars " The film is now completely digitalized so that the images are razor
sharp," says Peter Noten. The presale for the musical starts March 8, and the prices have purposely
been kept low. Seat prices are between 25 and 55 euro, depending on their
location. There are also, just like with André Rieu concerts, combined terrace
arrangements available.